Page 46 - Australian Defence Magazine July-August 2022

46 INFRASTRUCTURE ASMTI
JULY-AUGUST 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
Divisional Air Defence Group and Tactical Air Support Group and saw integration with helicopters and C-130H Hercules that included airdrop operations.
The helicopters have usually been the AS332M/M-1 Su- per Puma and more recently, CH-47D/F Chinook transport helicopters based at Oakey in Queensland with the RSAF training detachment there.
In addition, Singapore also flies in its Singapore-based helicopters for the exercise, with RSAF AH-64D and Chi- nooks (before the latter were assigned to the Oakey detach- ment in 2019) to take part in the training.
LEFT: As part
of the ASMTI, Federal Member for Herbert Phillip Thompson and representatives of the ADF and Singapore Armed Forces, ASTMI and local construction contractors marked completion of the first piece of infrastructure in the GVTA on 8 October 2019
ground School in Singapore before heading back to Aus- tralia for the 34-week Basic Wings Course with 19 Pilatus PC-21s with 130 Sqn at RAAF Pearce.
The BWC also serves to stream aspiring pilots into fight- er, transport or helicopter training based on aptitude. It is at this point that the cadet pilots are commissioned as of- ficers before heading to their respective advanced training platforms.
For the RSAF’s helicopters, this would be initial helicop- ter training on six EC120 Colibri helicopters before some will come back to Australia again, this time to the Oakey Army Aviation Training Centre where the RSAF has a heli- copter detachment.
This was initially the Super Pumas when the training agreement was originally signed in 1997 and allows Singa- pore to base ‘up to 16’ helicopters in Australia, although the RSAF only based about a dozen helicopters at Oakey.
Singapore announced a decision to replace its Super Pu- mas with the Airbus H225M in 2016 and its Chinooks with the newer CH-47F. As the drawdown of the former began, the medium transport helicopters at Oakey were initially replaced in 2017 by five RSAF CH-47Ds. The latter were as- signed to the Peace Prairie detachment in Texas before their replacement with the first of what will eventually become ten new-build CH-47Fs beginning in 2021.
The RSAF’s Oakey detachment has also taken part in humanitarian assistance missions in Australia, with Chi- nooks supporting ADF relief operations during the Vic- torian bushfires over the summer of 2020 and then the Queensland-NSW floods earlier in 2022. The 1997 agree- ment was renewed in 2012 and will run till December 2027.
The RSAF’s fast jet fleet also conduct unilateral training in Australia, typically with an annual four-week detach- ment to Darwin with F-15s and/or F-16s. The Singaporeans use the expansive training spaces over the Northern Terri- tory and the Delamere Air Weapons Range for air combat and live weapons training.
“SINGAPORE ALSO HAS A BIG PILOT TRAINING FOOTPRINT IN AUSTRALIA”
However, the RSAF’s fast jets have been involved on occasion, with both F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-15SG Eagles having taken part in the exercise, flying from Rockhampton. Wallaby has also started including naval assets, the latter in the form of amphibious
assault training with Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) Endurance-class Landing Platform Docks, and in recent years the exercise has folded into Exercise Trident, a bilat- eral training activity with the ADF.
PILOT TRAINING
Singapore also has a big pilot training footprint in Austra- lia. Singapore’s shortage of airspace, along with a monsoon- al climate that can severely impact flying training several months a year means the RSAF conducts a large propor- tion of its training overseas and Australia, with its relative proximity to home, English-speaking population and good flying weather is a natural fit.
For a RSAF pilot trainee, the flying journey starts with a six-week Air Grading course conducted by BAE Sys- tems Australia in Tamworth on Pacific Aerospace CT-4B Airtrainers. Upon successful completion, the trainees will be put through Basic Officer Cadet Training and Basic
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